TOP PHOTOS OF 2012 - - BREATHTAKING!

 Top 100 Photos of the Year 2012

 

*Please note the photographs themselves were not necessarily taken in 2012, they just happened to be featured as a POTD this year. The pictures are also listed in reverse chronological order. There is no ranking amongst the photos  

Enjoy! 

100. CHICAGO FROM AFAR 

Photograph by Robert Elves on Flickr 

99. THE ROLLER COASTER SUBMERGED BY SANDY 

Photograph by Stephen Wilkes | Prints available 

98. A DESERT OASIS IN LIBYA 

Photograph by George Steinmetz 

97. SAN FRANCISCO AIRPORT AT NIGHT 

Photograph by Andrew Choy 

96. THE ALPINISTS 

Photograph by Jakub Polomski on 500px 

95. INSIDE THE OLD METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE 

Photograph via The Natioanl Archives and Records Administration 

94. THE POWER OF AN ORANGE 

Photograph by Caleb Charland 

93. TITANIC’S ENGINES UNDERWATER 

COPYRIGHT© 2012 RMS TITANIC, INC; Produced by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute 

92. SUNRISE OVER LONDON’S TOWER BRIDGE 

Photograph by Jason Pope 

91. THE WHITE WHALE 

Photograph by Dan Fisher 

90. NUGGET POINT LIGHTHOUSE, NEW ZEALAND 

Photograph by Scott Robertson 

89. VINTAGE NEW YORK, 1935 

Photograph by Berenice Abbott 

88. OUR SUN ERUPTS 

Photograph by NASA/GSFC/SDO 

87. THE EYE OF THE DRAIN 

Photograph by Liammm on Reddit 

86. SNOWMOBILING THE NORWAY-SWEDEN BORDER 

Photograph by haqbar on Reddit 

85. A CABIN THAT FLOATS 

Photograph by Marcus Peabody 

84. THE SLEEPING GODDESS 

Photograph by The Lost Gardens of Heligan 

83. A TINY HERMIT CRAB CLOSE-UP 

Photograph by sleepychinchilla on Flickr 

82. PURPLE HAZE OVER EDINBURGH CASTLE 

Photograph by Scott Hutcheson (SMHutch Photography on Flickr) 

81. THE COCONUT OCTOPUS 

Photograph by Mario Neumann (scuba.hamburg on Flickr) 

80. A CLOUD ILLUMINATED BY LIGHTNING 

Photograph by Mike Jones (mrjones131 on Flickr) 

79. A TINY RIVER HOUSE IN SERBIA 

Photograph by Irene Becker for National Geographic 

78. A SUBMARINE SURFACES THROUGH ARCTIC ICE 

Photograph by Tiffini M. Jones, U.S. Navy 

77. A WALL OF FALL 

Photograph by Eric Forey (Kala___ on Flickr) | Prints Available 

76. AN AIRPLANE CROSSES THE MOON 

Photograph by Chris Thomas 

75. THE RED ZONE AT THE NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM 

Photograph by Elia Locardi on Google+ | blamethemonkey.com 

74. ONE TRIPPY PROFILE PIC 

Photograph via persnicketypoop on Reddit 

73. LIONESSES AT THE WATERING HOLE 

Photograph by Ranger Chad Cocking of the Motswari Private Game Reserve 

72. DEATH BEGETS LIFE 

Photograph by Ireena Worthy on Flickr 

71. MOUNT FUJI FROM ABOVE 

Photograph via news.mydrivers.com 

70. SKYDIVING INTO BURNING MAN 

Photograph via opi8 on Reddit 

69. THE ONLY AMERICAN NOT ON EARTH ON SEPT 11 

Photograph by NASA 

68. THE VENEZUELAN POODLE MOTH 

Photograph by Arthur Anker on Flickr 

67. THE PERSEIDS METEOR SHOWER 

Photograph by David Kingham on Flickr | Prints Available 

66. AN X-RAY OF A STINGRAY 

Photograph by Ken Jones 

65. THE POWER OF ONE SMALL STEP 

Photograph by NASA 

64. MOTH TRAILS AT NIGHT 

Photograph by Steve Irvine for National Geographic 

63. JUST A PINCH 

Photograph by mmarsupilami on Flickr 

62. EVOLUTION OF THE NEW YORK SKYLINE 

Photograph via Lee @ tier1dc.blogspot.com 

61. AN ELEPHANT MEETS A SEA LION 

Photograph by Michael Durham via The Oregon Zoo 

60. FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE 

Photograph via moctodtidderptth on Reddit 

59. AN OLYMPIC FULL MOON 

Photograph by REUTERS/Luke MacGrego (via Reuters Olympics on Facebook) 

58. BASE JUMPING IN RIO 

Photograph by Wolfgang Luif/Red Bull Content Pool 

57. THE BOMBING OF DRESDEN 

Photograph by Richard Peter 

56. HOTTEST. KISS. EVER. 

Photograph by Dallas Nagata on Google+ 

55. WHERE THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA MEETS THE SEA 

Photograph via Better_Be-Safe on Reddit 

54. THE CHICAGO SKYLINE FROM INDIANA 

Photograph by Tom Adams on Reddit 

53. LIVING ON THE EDGE 

Photograph by Tim Kemple 

52. THE MOLOKINI CRATER IN HAWAII 

Photograph by Ron Garnett/Hawaii Tourism Authority 

51. IF JUPITER WAS THE SAME DISTANCE AS THE MOON 

Artwork by jb2386 on Reddit 

50. A SEAHORSE INSPECTS A DIVER’S WATCH 

Photograph by Don McLeish 

49. AN ILLUMINATED SNOW TUNNEL IN RUSSIA 

Photograph by Michael Zelensky 

48. THE HONEYBEE’S FINAL STING 

 

Photograph by Kathy Keatley Garvey 

47. EVERYBODY WAS KUNG FU FIGHTING 

Photograph by China Foto Press 

46. STREET ARTIST SAINER GOES BIG IN POLAND 

Photograph via Fundacja Urban Forms on Facebook 

45. MOUNT RAINIER CASTING A SHADOW ON CLOUDS 

Photograph by Nick Lippert (via Komo News) 

44. FIRST CONTACT 

Photograph by CMGW Photography on Flickr 

43. THE IRISH SKY GARDEN CRATER 

Photograph by Liss Ard Estate 

42. MOON BRIDGE IN DAHU PARK, TAIPEI 

Photograph by bbe022001 on Flickr 

41. FLIGHT OF THE DEVIL RAYS 

Photograph by FLORIAN SCHULTZ 

40. GÁSADALUR VILLAGE IN THE FAROE ISLANDS 

Photograph by GARETH CODD PHOTOGRAPHY on Flickr 

39. WORLD’S EDGE 

Photograph by RHYS DAVIES 

38. THE CAPILANO SUSPENSION BRIDGE IN VANCOUVER 

Photograph by MICHELLE LEE 

37. FRACTAL PATTERNS IN DRIED OUT DESERT RIVERS 

Photograph by ADRIANA FRANCO for National Geographic 

36. MEDITATING MONKS AT PONGOUR FALLS 

Photograph by DANG NGO – Prints Available 

35. HANGING OUT ON THE BROOKLYN BRIDGE, 1914 

Photograph by Eugene de Salignac/Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives 

34. A SUNSET ECLIPSE 

Photograph by GIL NARTEA 

33. BORA BORA FROM SPACE 

Photograph by PLEIADES-HR SATELLITE 

32. THE LARGEST RAFT OF CANOES AND KAYAKS IN THE WORLD 

Photograph by NANCIE BATTAGLIA for National Geographic 

31. ADAPTIVE ROOTS IN THE CONCRETE JUNGLE 

Photograph by HORST KIECHLE 

30. THE HAMILTON POOL NATURE PRESERVE 

Photograph by DAVE WILSON PHOTOGRAPHY 

29. ABOVE THE CANOPY 

Photograph by MICHAEL NICHOLS for National Geographic [Print Available] 

28. COLLIDING RIVERS IN GENEVA, SWITZERLAND 

Photograph via I_let_my_dog_lick_my on Reddit 

27. THE STUNNING GREEN VINE SNAKE 

Photograph by SUHAAS PREMKUMAR for National Geographic 

26. AURORA AUSTRALIS (SOUTHERN LIGHTS) FROM SPACE 

Photograph by André Kuipers / ESA / NASA 

25. MOUNT KILIMANJARO FROM ABOVE 

Photograph by KYLE MIJLOF @ kylemijlof.blogspot.co.uk 

24. THE AMAZING STRENGTH OF AN ANT 

Photograph by Yu Wu for National Geographic – Your Shot 

23. YARN BOMBING A BUS IN MEXICO CITY 

Artwork by Magda Sayeg (Photograph by Cesar Ortega) 

22. FELIX BAUMGARTNER JUMPS FROM SPACE 

© Jay Nemeth/Red Bull Content Pool 

21. THE MOST INCREDIBLE AURORA OF 2012 

Photograph courtesy of Jónína Óskarsdóttir for NASA 

20. THE WATERFALL ISLAND AT IGUAZU FALLS 

Photograph by Andrew Murray on Flickr 

19. OVERGROWN RAILROAD TRACKS IN THE FOREST 

 

Photograph by T.-C on Flickr 

18. A POD OF SLEEPING SPERM WHALES 

Photograph by Wild Wonders of Europe [www.wild-wonders.com] via Business & Biodiversity Campaign 

17. 7 HOURS IN ONE IMAGE 

Photograph by Isil Karanfil (isilkrnfl on deviantART) 

16. PIXEL PEOPLE PERFECTION 

Artwork by Craig Alan via Artexpo (Eric Smith) on Flickr 

15. GALACTIC MONSOON 

Photograph by BRET WEBSTER 

14. STRIKING ARTISTRY OF MULTIPLE TAKEOFFS AT HANNOVER AIRPORT 

Photograph by HO-YEOL RYU 

13. THE KEEL WALK 

Photograph by ALEX THOMSON RACING 

12. A SEA OF PURPLE IN THE BADLANDS OF UTAH 

Photograph by GUY TAL PHOTOGRAPHY | Print Available for Sale 

11. PUTTING THE SIZE OF A WHALE IN PERSPECTIVE 

Photograph via timz45 on Reddit 

10. MEANWHILE IN SWITZERLAND 

Photograph by Reuters/Denis Balibouse 

9. ONE BOAT AND 145 WATER-SKIERS 

Photograph by MARK SEATON PHOTOGRAPHY 

8. SALAR DE UYUNI AFTER SOME RAIN 

Photograph via Paean on Reddit 

7. OUTDOOR JACUZZI ON THE MATTERHORN 

Photograph via Iglu-Dorf.com 

6. THE PRECIOUS BLUE MARBLE 

Photograph by NASA/NOAA/GSFC/Suomi NPP/VIIRS/Norman Kuring 

5. MAELSTROM AT KAUAI, HAWAII 

Photograph by PATRICK SMITH PHOTOGRAPHY 

4. CAPSIZED CRUISE SHIP COSTA CONCORDIA FROM SPACE 

Photograph by DIGITALGLOBE.COM 

3. Serenity Now 

Photograph by ZAK NOYLE for SURFER MAGAZINE 

2. BEAUTIFUL BERN FROM ABOVE 

Photograph via loki010 on Reddit 

1. FIRST RISING SUN OF 2012 

Photograph by JIJI Press/AFP/Getty Images 

Fry Cook Shifted to Part-Time Work Confronts Obama, who blew him off!

Fry Cook Shifted to Part-Time Work Confronts Obama | National Review Online
http://www.drudgereport.com/

A More Assertive German Foreign Policy

A More Assertive German Foreign Policy

Wise quotes 4U...

If God wanted us to vote, he would have given us candidates.

~Jay Leno~

 

The problem with political jokes is they get elected.

~Henry Cate, VII~

 

We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office

~Aesop~

 

If we got one-tenth of what was promised to us in these State of the Union speeches, there wouldn't be any inducement to go to heaven.

~Will Rogers~

 

Politicians are the same all over. They promise to build a bridge even where there is no river.

~Nikita Khrushchev~

 

When I was a boy I was told that anybody could become President; I'm beginning to believe it.

~Clarence Darrow~

 

Why pay money to have your family tree traced; go into politics and your opponents will do it for you.

~Author unknown~

 

Politicians are people who, when they see light at the end of the tunnel, go out and buy some more tunnel.

~John Quinton~

 

Politics is the gentle art of getting votes from the poor and campaign funds from the rich, by promising to protect each from the other.

~Oscar Ameringer~

 

I offer my opponents a bargain: if they will stop telling lies about us, I will stop telling the truth about them.

~Adlai Stevenson, campaign speech, 1952~

 

A politician is a fellow who will lay down your life for his country.

~ Tex Guinan~

 

I have come to the conclusion that politics is too serious a matter to be left to the politicians.

~Charles de Gaulle~

 

Instead of giving a politician the keys to the city, it might be better to change the locks.

~Doug Larson~

 

There ought to be one day -- just one -- when there is open season on Congressmen.

Will Rodgers

 

Here is a story you might not have heard before... Moe Berg -- Catcher / Spy

Moe Berg   What incredible men and women we had among the ranks of our military!  I never heard of Moe Berg, but he had an amazing life and tremendous dedication.  Just a third string catcher for the Yankees, but who made it to the Baseball Hall of Fame.  He was also a highly specialized spy during WWII.         Moe Berg       A second-rate baseball player, but a first-rate spy.  When baseball greats Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig went on tour in baseball-crazy Japan in 1934, some fans wondered why a third-string catcher named Moe Berg was included.   The answer was simple: Berg was a US spy.  Speaking 15 languages, including Japanese, Moe Berg had two loves: baseball and spying.   In Tokyo, garbed in a kimono, Berg took flowers to the daughter of an American diplomat being treated in St. Luke's Hospital -- the tallest building in the Japanese capital.  He never delivered the flowers.  The ball-player ascended to the hospital roof and filmed key features: the harbor, military installations, railway yards, etc.   Eight years later, General Jimmy Doolittle studied Berg's films in planning his spectacular raid on Tokyo.   Berg's father, Bernard Berg, a pharmacist in Newark, New Jersey, taught his son Hebrew and Yiddish.  Moe, against his wishes, began playing baseball on the street aged four.  His father disapproved and never once watched his son play.    In Barringer High School, Moe learned Latin, Greek, and French.  He graduated magna cum laude from Princeton, having added Spanish, Italian, German, and Sanskrit to his linguistic quiver.  During further studies at the Sorbonne, in Paris, and Columbia Law School he picked up Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Indian, Arabic, Portuguese and Hungarian.    15 languages in all, plus some regional dialects.  While playing baseball for Princeton University, Moe Berg would describe plays in Latin or Sanskrit.   Tito's partisans   During World War II, he was parachuted into Yugoslavia to assess the value to the war effort of the two groups of partisans there.  He reported back that Marshall Tito's forces were widely supported by the people and Winston Churchill ordered all-out support for the Yugoslav underground fighter, rather than Mihajlovic's Serbians.  The parachute jump at age 41 undoubtedly was a challenge.  But there was more to come in that same year.   Berg penetrated German-held Norway, met with members of the underground and located a secret heavy water plant ”part of the Nazis effort to build an atomic bomb.  His information guided the Royal Air Force in a bombing raid to destroy the plant.   The R.A.F. destroys the Norwegian heavy water plant targeted by Moe Berg.   There still remained the question of how far had the Nazis progressed in the race to build the first Atomic bomb.  If the Nazis were successful, they would win the war.  Berg (under the code name Remus) was sent to Switzerland to hear leading German physicist Werner Heisenberg, a Nobel Laureate, lecture and determine if the Nazis were close to building an A-bomb.    Moe managed to slip past the SS guards at the auditorium, posing as a Swiss graduate student.  The spy carried in his pocket a pistol and a cyanide pill.  If the German indicated the Nazis were close to building a weapon, Berg was to shoot him and then swallow the cyanide pill.  Moe, sitting in the front row, determined that the Germans were nowhere near their goal, so he complimented Heisenberg on his speech and walked him back to his hotel.       Werner Heisenberg: "He blocked the Nazis from acquiring an atomic bomb.”   Moe Berg's report was distributed to Britain's Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, President Franklin D. Roosevelt and key figures in the team developing the Atomic Bomb.  Roosevelt responded, “Give my regards to the catcher.”   Most of Germany's leading physicists had been Jewish and had fled the Nazis mainly to Britain and the United States.  After the war, Moe Berg was awarded the Medal of Merit, America's highest honor for a civilian in wartime.  But Berg refused to accept, as he couldn't tell people about his exploits.   After his death, his sister accepted the Medal and it hangs in the Baseball Hall of Fame, in Cooperstown.       Your Freedom Wasn't and Still Isn't Free!

 

GWB vs Zero! No Contest...

There is something about a stint in the military that creates a leader who wants to take care of his troops first. The good ones always do. The others - well - you now have a great example of a poor example.

ANALYSIS/OPINION: 

Every year, in the week between Christmas and New Year‘s, I think about George W. Bush. 

It was in that week each year for the eight that I covered him as a reporter that he gave me a spectacular gift 
and he knew it. 

I started covering the newly elected president in 2000, when I was in my late 30s. Back then, as a reporter for The Washington Times, we went everywhere the president went. If he went to Charlotte, N.C., to give a 30-minute speech on an airport tarmac, we went. Up at 4 a.m., an hour long commute to Andrews Air Force Base, in place on the ground hours before POTUS landed, and there for hours and hours after he left — sometimes right through the evening news so network reporters could file live from the site. 

We also went with the president to Texas every summer — often for a month — and every winter, too, over the holidays. 

But here’s the thing: In December, we never left Washington, D.C., until the day after Christmas. Never. 
 
Mr. Bush and his wife Laura would always depart the White House a few days before the holiday and hunker down at the presidential retreat in Maryland, Camp David. After a few years, I asked a low-level White House staffer why. 

I still remember what she said: “So all of us can be with our families on Christmas.” 

Who was “us”? Hundreds and hundreds of people, that’s who. Sure, the reporters who covered the president, but also dozens and dozens on his staff, a hundred Secret Service agents, maybe more, and all of those cops required whenever the president’s on the move in D.C. 

For me, that one-day delay was huge. My kids were 6 and 8 when Bush took office. When he went home to Prairie Chapel that last time in 2009, my girl was driving, the boy was 6 foot 1. But in the meantime, I was home for eight Christmas mornings, playing Santa, stoking the fire, mixing up hot chocolates. 

That was President Bush. And every year for the last five, I’ve thought about what that meant to me. (By the way, some years, I got holiday duty, which meant I was off to Waco, Texas, the day after Christmas. But once again, the Bush White House had us covered: A press plane flew out with the president, and back then, reporters could pay $100 per family member for the plane ride. So sometimes, the family went along. For the kids, it was an adventure; for me, well, we were all together). 

All that has changed with President Obama. No more press plane, for one. Reporters are on their own — so taking family is, say, $1,000 a pop. Not likely. And this president would never delay his trip to his island getaway. He’s off every year well before Christmas. Hundreds and hundreds head off with him, leaving family behind. 

No Christmas at home. Instead, the Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort. Nice, but not exactly home. 

Anyway, that’s why I think of George W. Bush every year in the week between Christmas and New Year‘s. 
 
Probably will till I die. Thanks, GWB. 

• Joseph Curl covered the White House and politics for a decade for The Washington Times and is now editor of the Drudge Report. He can be reached at josephcurl@gmail.com and on Twitter @josephcurl.

 

Guns Save Lives...

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Nebraska Bill Would Allow Teachers to Get “Level II” Carry Permit to Carry in Schools Posted: 01 Feb 2014 11:20 AM PST Over the last year, we’ve heard numerous ways to protect defenseless children while they are at school. They include more of a law enforcement presence in schools, armed private security, using the military to protect schools and arming teachers/staff. Many have expressed concern that teachers/staff would lack the training required to properly use a firearm […]

What? Gabby Giffords Has a Warship Named After Her? Posted: 31 Jan 2014 11:34 PM PST Maybe this is my own personal ignorance, but don’t we usually name Navy ships after heroes of war, presidents, and regions of the country? We do, right? Yeah, so why does former congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords have a ship named after her? Also, how did this slip under my radar for TWO YEARS? I mean it’s […]

Shocking 2016 Campaign Poster?

Shocking 2016 Campaign Poster?   The attackers took photos to show what they were doing to Ambassador Stephens while bragging to their cohorts.  That is a livestock prod they are using at the time after he was set on fire.   The horrific torture this man had to endure should be a reminder to those who admire/support Hillary.   Perhaps if she had just "some" of those things done to her, she would hear back.........."What Difference Does It Make"   How could anyone ever say "What difference does it make" after seeing what these sick animals did to our people. Some folks may be bored by keeping this story alive, but looking at the crowd doing this and planning for the future (What does it matter?) the memory needs to be kept alive.

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